Family Is What You Make of It
by grouchydragon
Summary: "So...can you come get us? Please?" "I can't I'm fighting-wait," Hal's eyes narrowed. "Why did you say us?" "Uuuuhhhhh" "How many of you are in there?" "Well all things considering, there aren't that many of us considering the size of the corps-" "Kyle." "...Seven? Including me?" "WHAT?"


Hal got the call in the middle of a battle with Darkseid. "Kyle, awesome timing. We're getting our asses handed to us right now. Get over here, and bring Simon and Jess while you're at it. Guy too."

"I can't."

"Too bad." Hal dodged a blast and sent one back. "We need you."

"No I mean I physically can't. Which is actually why I'm calling."

His heart stopped. "Are you okay? Are you injured?"

"I'm fine! I'm just...in jail."

His heart stopped again. "I'm sorry, you're _where_?"

"...Jail…"

Of course. Well, this wasn't the first or last time Hal had to bail out a fellow corps member. That didn't mean he was happy about it, and he tried to infuse as much of the 'I'm-not-mad-just-disappointed' sentiment into his voice as he could. "On what planet?"

"Myrera."

Were Hal not in the middle of a life or death fight he would have pinched his nose. He settled for a heavy sigh after sending a boxing glove construct at some robots. "Of course."

"So...can you come get us? Please?"

"I can't I'm fighting-wait," Hal's eyes narrowed. "Why did you say us?"

"Uuuuhhhhh"

"How many of you are in there?"

"Well all things considering, there aren't _that _many of us considering the size of the corps-"

"_Kyle_."

"...Seven? Including me?"

"WHAT?" Hal snapped the neck of a doombot he'd had in a chokehold (Barry would later say this was when the Dad Instinct™ took over his body. Hal would later laugh in his face). "Who-? Nevermind. I'll find out later. But you'll all have to hold tight until this battle is over. John and I will swing by when we can."

"Don't bring John!"

"Why would you say that? What did you do?" Hal could physically feel his blood pressure rising. If they had accidentally murdered someone important this would be a disaster. It hadn't happened in the corps yet but that wasn't indicative of anything really. He took his panic out on another doombot by kicking the shit out of it.

"Nothing bad! I swear! I just don't him to judge us."

His blood pressure went back to normal. Kyle was a horrible liar, so nobody was dead. Probably. "Too bad. If seven Green Lanterns get arrested it's his business."

"Fine," sighed Kyle.

"See you in a bit." Hal looked up at the sky full of doombots. "I hope."

"Bye. Good luck."

"Thanks. Ring, hang up." Hal was suddenly conscious of Oliver snickering in the bushes as he fired off arrow after arrow. "Not a word."

"Karma has come to the childless bachelor at last."

"Shut up and fight."

Oliver didn't say anything more, but he did continue to laugh. Hal needed better friends. Case in point, the first words out of John's mouth when Hal approached him after the battle was won were "What did you do now?" Which was fair.

"This time it isn't me. Kyle and six other lanterns are in jail on Myerna."

John sighed (which was a big mood, as Jess would say). "I'd bet my ring Guy is one of the six."

"Is that even a question?"

Technically it was, and the answer was yes (as always). But the other lanterns waiting sheepishly in the cells were a surprise. John had left to go pay bail which left Hal to lecture. "Sodam, Jade. What are you two doing here?"

Jade looked him in the eye as she gestured to Kyle, who looked like he wanted to die.

Sodam on the other hand, just nodded in Hal's direction. He seemed resigned to the nonsense around him. Or it was teenage aloofness. Hal wasn't sure which, or even if Sodam _was _a teen. It was hard to tell sometimes whether his special brand of recklessness was young-and-dumb twenty-something (well, his species' equivalent), or teenager. He made a mental note to yell at the Guardians if it was the latter. John would help, he was good about those sorts of things. Guy too, for that matter.

"Nevermind. What happened here?"

"Well, it's a real funny story-"

"Shut up Guy," hissed Kyle.

"What? I'm just sayin' once you get past the jail part-"

"Can someone who isn't Guy tell me what's going on?" asked Hal.

The cell was filled with Lanterns shuffling around.

"There was an artifact-Ow!" G'nort glared at Soranik, who was doing her best impression of someone who was totally innocent.

Jade glared at him. "Wait until we're out of here to tattle dumbass."

"I'm not tattling! I'm just answering the question."

"So tattling." Jade narrowed her eyes into a glare. G'nort did his best not to wilt under the full force of Jade's wrath. "It's your fault we're in here in the first place. God, we shouldn't have brought you."

That snapped him out of it. "Hey!"

Hal felt the beginning of a headache as Oliver's comment from earlier rang in his ears. "That's enough. Jade, don't be so mean to your fellow corps member. You'll all be dealt with accordingly when we get out of here."

G'nort looked relieved. Hal made sure to look him in the eye. "_All_ of you."

"I believe this is primarily my fault," said Laira from the corner. It looked like she'd been meditating. "As I was the one to recognize the artifact that caused all this trouble. To ensure we don't get in even more with the local authorities, I'm afraid I can't explain more until we've left."

So they'd committed more crimes in addition to what they'd been caught doing (trespassing). Perfect. "That's fine, as long as we get the full story eventually."

John walked over to them, a Myernan guard at his elbow. Hal stepped aside as the guard tapped an access code. The clear cell wall disappeared and the seven lanterns shuffled out, not meeting John's eye. Hal didn't blame them. John's glare made Jade's look like nothing by comparison. That's why he was corps leader (and you know, the leadership skills).

Soon Myerna was behind them. But before they could fly far, Soranik's eyes widened. "We can't leave yet!"

John stopped and turned around. His eyebrow started the slow climb up his forehead. "And why not?"

"Because we have to wait for Simon and Jess! This was the meeting spot for when they got back."

Hal decided to put that heart attack on hold and instead focused on two green blurs of light speeding towards them. "I don't think we'll have to wait long."

John turned to Soranik, who was suddenly very interested in some space dust. "Care to tell me why a group of _senior _lanterns would decide to drag their less experienced fellow corps members into disaster?"

She was saved from having to answer by Simon and Jess skidding to a stop beside them. They were covered in soot and grinning from ear to ear. "Hi guys! Good news, the artifact doesn't actually need it's twin to be activated. We were able to get it going and the planet is…" Jess' voice trailed off as she noticed Hal and John.

"Go on," said John.

"It's all good now," said Simon.

"Wait, what? You mean we got arrested for nothing!" said G'nort, his fur bristling.

"Shut up G'nort," hissed Jade.

It was too late. Comprehension had dawned on Simon and Jess' face and was replaced by an expression Hal could only describe as the smugness of outfoxing an older sibling (Hal had been on both sides of it throughout his childhood. Oh the joys of being the middle child). In this case it was senior lanterns, but the sentiment probably wasn't much different. Then Simon and Jess began to laugh.

"What did you even do?" asked Jess.

Lyra shifted. "We made a rather egregious error, I'm afraid."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," said Guy.

Kyle sighed. "Guy, name one time you've had a good idea. Ever."

"Hey! I've had plenty."

Soranik snorted. "Sure, and I'm human."

"Oh man, I can't wait to hear this," said Simon. He and Jess had stopped laughing, but were still grinning from ear to ear.

"Me too," said John. "But we've been on this planet long enough. You all can explain just what you were doing in a sacred temple on the flight back to Oa.

And so seven voices all piped up at once, giving slightly different versions of the event. Hal started flying next to John and got ready for a very interesting story.

* * *

**The world always needs more lanternfam but there's like none out there so here I am folks. This fic was super fun to write but took super long? For some reason? Apologies to any G'nort fans if I did him dirty, I admit that I don't know him super well but I gave it my best shot. Same goes for Sodam.**

**I have a bunch of projects in the works but due to that fact that I work on them like a crazed chipmunk nibbling at different foods depending on the whims of it's tiny pea brain we'll have to wait and see what I put out next. It'll be a surprise for everyone, including me. But reviews make me work faster soooooo…..**


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